ART INSTALLATION
It’s finally the weekend. It’s time to kick back, relax, and maybe let the world move around you. There’s no better way to introduce a little calm and wonder today than to take a look at the work of Yayoi Kusama. The Japanese artist and writer has worked with just about every medium, but lately her focus has been colorful, cool, and fascinating work revolving around space and patterns. Kusama has moved from polka dots to fireflies in her latest installation, and the results are mesmerizing.
Some of the best and most entertaining art is the result of creating just for the fun of it. It’s the sort of feeling that created spontaneous art galleries, collaborations, and flash mobs. It’s art with joy and it bring a special charm to whatever it touches. We’re fond of installations that add a touch of humor and whimsy to a scene, and that is just what German-based artists Maria Luján and Wolfgang Krug created recently all around Berlin.
It’s barely February, but Valentine’s Day is almost here. Love or loathe the holiday, if you’re in New York City, it’ll be happening big this year. Pressure is on for anyone with a crush or wants to find a romantic way to celebrate. Anyone a little strapped for cash may already be lamenting over what they can get for their sweetheart. BIG (the Bjarke Ingles Group) has created something anyone can enjoy, whether they’ve got a Valentine or not. The spectacle they’ve created is part art installation, part technology, and all heart.
Let’s be honest, some of us are still recovering from New Year’s Eve and Christmas. The time has come to get rid of decorations and clean up the mess from the New Year’s party. Things may look a little like a disaster. Not all messes look terrible or come with after party shame, though. Creating a controlled mess is artist Yayoi Kusama. It began as a perfectly white room, housing perfectly white furniture, until she handed a museum’s smallest visitors an unlimited supply of stickers.
In the post-Christmas haze, if we’re lucky, we’re reminded of the holidays we spent as kids. There’s joy in remembering opening those presents--at least a quarter of which met their demise under the foot of an unsuspecting parent. Matchbox cars and Hot Wheels were the tiny inexpensive favorites that managed to please without much of a price tag. They’re bright, look like real cars, and really easy to bother the family pet with. It’s no wonder, then, when David T. Waller turned them into art, that his creation caught some attention that spans generations.
Since our existence, the moon has been an ever-present focal point in a sea of stars. It has inspired, guided, and made the flow of time concrete with its waxing and waning. Novels, poetry, paintings, and songs have been made in its honor. Humans have been trying to win the moon’s favor for centuries. It’s presence is felt even in big cities, where most stars are drowned out by neon lights. It comes as a surprise, then, that the Private Moon of Russian artists Leonid Tishkov and Boris Bendikov truly stand out. Their glowing crescent moon stirs the same feeling as gazing up at a clear night’s sky.
With Thanksgiving over, it’s finally officially the Christmas season. That means warm clothes, food, and lights. Cities become illuminated with Christmas lights on trees, windows, and just about anything. Christmas lights are so much a part of the season that people compete to transform their houses into giant light displays. Artist Bruno Munro, however, has put a spin on winter illumination. Rather than creating light we have to look up to, his light art springs from the ground.
Digital cameras have changed the way we look at photography entirely. We can afford mistakes and different tries for the same picture. No one is limited by a roll of film anymore. Online, thousands upon thousands of great photos are posted every single day. While that may not seem like a big deal in print, it’s staggering in real life. Erik Kessels brought a fraction of it to life by printing out a single day’s worth of photos uploaded to Flickr.
Nothing is more adorable and terrifying than a giant version of something tiny. Take a kitten, baby, puppy, or anything that’s got a cute Youtube video and make it 20 feet tall and you’ve got a potential menace scarier than the Stay Puft mascot. This October in Osaka the most adorable sea creature loomed on the water. A giant rubber ducky appeared on the river near Nakanoshima Park, to the surprise of locals.
To many, art is an experience that’s far more than looking at paintings on a wall. It is something that should be interactive and play with the space around it. The canvas should be the world to these hopefuls, and it is so rare that art moves beyond a gallery. Artist Tomás Saraceno has been given one of the biggest and coolest canvases to work with: a train station. Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof is home to Saraceno’s interactive exhibit, Cloud City, from now until January 15th, 2012.
 |
 |
 |
 |
